Several hours ago, many of you struck gold with the purchase of Pillot’s sensational Bourgogne Blanc, and here’s the chance to do it twice in one day with his invaluable single-vineyard Pinot Noir. For those who constantly crave delicious, cutting-edge red Burgundy, Jean-Marc Pillot’s micro-produced “Les Grandes Terres” has become one of the finest buys of the last five years, but given its deservedly larger-than-life reputation amongst sommeliers, locating a bottle has become a wild goose chase for many.

However, our unending loyalty to Pillot guaranteed us the right of first refusal to a small allocation of his stellar 2019s. We’re fortunate for that, because, along with Pillot’s Chardonnay, every single bottle of this invitingly ripe and graceful Bourgogne Rouge has already been snatched from the importer's hands. Originating from a microscopic mono-parcel just beyond Chassagne-Montrachet’s southern border, this Pinot Noir, lovingly aged in neutral French barrels, bursts with vibrant fruits of the forest, a soft crushed-stone minerality, and that ineffable “complete package” quality that one associates with costlier red Burgundies. Trust me, you do not want to miss this, especially if a massive upgrade to your value-driven Bourgogne collection sounds appealing.  

With an impressive range of Premier and Grand Cru vineyard parcels in Puligny-Montrachet and Chassagne-Montrachet, Jean-Marc Pillot is one of the most consistently high-achieving Burgundy producers we feature on SommSelect. Pillot’s wines offer succulent and bold fruit that is always expertly balanced with deep, mineral terroir of limestone and clay. The one frustrating hitch to Jean-Marc’s stellar craftsmanship is that his small-production wines become harder to acquire with each passing vintage. In SommSelect’s first year of business, we offered multiple back vintages and new releases of Pillot’s top wines. Today, that’s nearly impossible to do with the ongoing deluge of critical praise and industry enthusiasm for Burgundy. As such, the flow of Pillot’s wines into America has all but dried up, forcing buyers to scrap for what little is available. 

Of the “big three” white wine villages of the Côte de Beaune (Puligny, Chassagne, Meursault), Chassagne is the only one still producing a significant percentage of red wines. That percentage used to be higher, in fact, and the reasons for converting Pinot Noir over to Chardonnay have been largely commercial: The greatest Chardonnay vineyards in the world are stationed around here, so it’s no wonder many growers have made the switch. Like most of his neighbors, Pillot’s overall production is dominated by whites, but it also includes exceptionally noteworthy reds, like “Les Grandes Terres.” This delicious Pinot Noir hails from a 65-year-old vineyard in the idyllic town of Remigny, less than a mile from the southern border of Chassagne-Montrachet. 

This dream “value-driven” location combined with (1) twelve months of aging in old French barrels, (2) six months in stainless steel, and (3) a gentle, unfiltered bottling provides electric red berry fruit, velvet-smooth tannins, and a hard-to-define but impossible to deny “energy” that makes it difficult to savor slowly. It’s rare to find a red Burgundy so satisfying, thirst-quenching, and complete at this price. As this 2019 edition of “Les Grandes Terres” unfurls in the glass, it returns supple, high-toned aromas of ripe black raspberry, Morello cherry, cranberry, pomegranate seeds, baking spice, damp moss, and wet stone. The palate is wonderfully lush and polished, almost with a Sonoma Coast-like spice and ripeness, but its firm mineral backbone on the finish takes me right back to quality red Burgundy. No, you won’t mistake it for a $100 Premier Cru, but it’s unabashedly delicious Pinot Noir nonetheless! When enjoying over the next five years, please decant for 15 minutes prior to serving in large Burgundy stems.